The Sandbox
by CherryNekoChan
Summary: COMPLETE. One-Shot. AU ish- Gaara was not always alone in his childhood. A little girl named Sakura braved the rumors surrounding the boy and played with the redhead...


Summary

AU ish- Gaara was not always alone in his childhood. A little girl named Sakura braved the rumors surrounding the boy and played with the redhead...

Gaara/Sakura

Angst, Humor, Cuteness

The Sandbox

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He sat alone in the sand. The sand was his territory; no one dared enter his domain. The little redhead boy picked up a handful of sand and let the grains slip through his fingers. Sabaku no Gaara sighed and watched with something close to envy as the other kids played together. Every time he asked to play, though, they all ran away screaming monster. He watched the smiling cheerful faces of the other children playing ball with each other. It was then that he caught a flash of pink in the crowd and heard the names.

"Why is your hair pink?"

"What's wrong with your forehead?"

"You're weird! Normal people don't have pink hair and big foreheads!"

"Forehead Girl! Forehead Girl!"

"Ha ha!"

"P-please s-s-s-stop it!" a small voice stuttered out, sniffling miserably.

"We don't want you to play with us!"

"Yeah! You're a freak! Just like Gaara!"

"No! Gaara's just scary! She's not that big a freak!"

"Pink hair! Pink hair!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" the little girl screamed, breaking through the crowd of kids. Gaara narrowed his jade eyes as he watched the other children pick on the little pink-haired girl. The little girl wasn't paying attention and she was heading… straight towards his sandbox going full steam.

"HEY! STAY AWAY FROM THERE!" one kid shouted in a sudden panic.

"YOU'LL GET KILLED BY THE MONSTER!" another boy shrieked. The kids all looked at each other and scattered suddenly, not wanting to be there when the bloodbath occurred.

Gaara's eyes widened when the little girl tripped and fell right before she made it to the sandbox. She didn't bother getting up. Instead, she lay there at the foot of his domain sobbing loudly.

"A-are you okay?" Gaara asked hesitation clearly marked in his voice. Most of the children knew not to come near his sandbox, but this little pink-haired girl seemed different, almost… broken. The little girl looked up at him, her emerald eyes flashing with despair.

"Who are you? Come to make fun of my forehead too?" the little girl bit out savagely, causing Gaara to flinch slightly.

"N-no. I-I was just m-making sure you were o-okay," Gaara stuttered, his entire being stunned at the fact that the little girl hadn't turned tail and run screaming yet. He figured she was just in shock.

"Ohhh. So… you're not mad at me?" the little girl asked, curiosity brightening her green eyes. She slowly rubbed at the pinkened face to remove the tear tracks there.

"No! I don't even know you! How can I be mad at someone I don't know?" Gaara replied, waving his arms around for emphasis. The little girl smiled shyly and nodded, standing up slowly and brushing the sand off of herself. With a flick of his wrist, Gaara removed the sand from her person, earning a shocked gasp.

"How did you do that?" the little girl asked in awe. Gaara blinked and then shrugged, trying to act cool like he had seen some of the other kids do.

"It's nothing, really. I can control sand," he muttered, giving the pink-haired girl a hopeful smile. It turned out looking more like a grimace, but he was sure he got the point across when she looked expectantly at the ground beneath them.

"Wow! Can you really?" the little girl asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. Gaara turned towards the sandbox and swept his hand across the expanse. An instant later, a large sandcastle stood proudly in the sandbox. The little girl gasped and Gaara swung around, afraid that he had scared her.

"HOW COOL! You can make sandcastles!" the little girl squealed, clapping her hands in enthusiastic applause. Gaara flushed darkly and nodded mutely.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," the little girl stated suddenly, turning to the little redhead and holding out her hand. Gaara's mind went numb with shock for a moment before he muttered, "Gaara," and slowly inched his hand towards hers. She smiled brightly and grabbed his hand to shake it thoroughly.

"It's nice to meet you, Gaara! I think we're going to be good friends," Sakura replied happily, then suddenly withdrew, "unless, you don't want to be friends."

"NO!" Gaara shouted, blushing and then lowering his voice when Sakura looked startled, "I do want to be friends! It would be more fun than being by myself!"

"Really? You'll be my second friend ever. My bestest friend, Ino, lives back at home in Konoha!" Sakura jumped up and down excitedly, smiling so brightly that the happiness was rubbing of on the little redhead.

"Really? You're the first person to ever really talk to me," Gaara stated in awe, "Most of the other kids are too scared of me. I don't like being called a monster. I don't do anything wrong."

"You're not a monster!" Sakura replied, a horrified look crossing her face, "How could they say that to someone as nice as you!"

"Because I am!" Gaara declared suddenly, leaning away from Sakura. "They have every right to call me a monster!" The sand beneath them shifted ominously in response to the small boy's emotions.

"NO! You're not!" Sakura shouted vehemently, suddenly pitching towards him as she lost her balance in the sand. Gaara winced. Sakura landed with a loud "Omph!" against his small frame, almost knocking him off his feet in surprise.

'_How come the sand shield didn't stop her?'_ Gaara thought with faint awe. He automatically wrapped his thin arms around the little pink-haired girl to prevent her from falling again.

'_She smells pretty,'_ the five year old redhead thought suddenly, breathing the scent of warm vanilla deeper into his mind.

"Gaara-sama?" a deeper voice called out tentatively. Gaara whipped Sakura behind his back, a growl forming on the end of his tongue and flashing his teeth in a animalistic manner. The little redhead relaxed when the person stepped from the shadows to reveal his uncle, Yashamaru.

"Yashamaru! This is my friend, Sakura-chan!" Gaara announced, happily displaying his new friend to his uncle. The older man gaped openly at the enormous amount of affection the little redhead had placed on "Sakura-chan's" name.

"T-that's wonderful, Gaara-sama! I'm so happy that you've made a friend!" Yashamaru exclaimed, leaning down to smile sweetly at Gaara and Sakura. Sakura blushed and shied away against Gaara, while Gaara stood proudly, smiling so widely, Yashamaru was almost sure it could hurt.

"Do you want to have lunch with me and my uncle, Sakura-chan?" Gaara asked, giving the little pink-haired girl his infamous puppy eyes. Sakura giggled and nodded, hugging the little redhead again around the middle.

"Then let's head home, Gaara-sama, Sakura-chan," Yashamaru smiled offering to show the two children the way back to his place.

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The next two weeks passed this way. Gaara and Sakura continued to play in the sandbox together, ate lunch at Yashamaru's together, did practically everything together. He made enormous sandcastles for her and they would play 'Conquer the Castle' as they came to dub it. She would talk about her home and the nice people there. Gaara really wanted to go see Sakura's home after that. He was sure they would accept him better than people did here. The other kids left both of them alone, afraid that the friendly alliance the two children had made would be broken if anything were to happen to Sakura.

The day came, though, when it was time for Sakura to go home. It was the worst day in the world for Gaara. The thought of his best and only friend leaving made his small heart clench in agony, but he knew that she couldn't stay here forever. She talked so sweetly about her precious Konoha that he was afraid she would hate him if he acted selfishly and kept her here for himself.

"Will I ever see you again?" Gaara whispered quietly, as the adults stood talking at the gates leading to the desert.

"Of course you will," Sakura giggled just as quietly, hugging the redhead when he turned heartbroken jade eyes onto her.

"I'll miss you every day!" Gaara stated stubbornly. The little pink-haired girl smiled.

"I'll miss you too, but I'll always be with you," she declared softly, pulling the red ribbon in her hair out and tying it loosely around Gaara's neck.

"How?" Gaara asked, confusion coloring his eyes. His little heart started beating faster when Sakura put her hand over it.

"I'll always be in your heart, just like how you'll always be in mine," Sakura muttered shyly, blushing pink when Gaara placed his hand over hers.

"In my heart," Gaara repeated slowly, gazing at their hands before smiling a small smile. Sakura nodded. Her pink head jerked up when she heard her name being called by her father.

"Don't change, Gaara-kun. I like you just the way you are!" Sakura pronounced, leaning over and kissing Gaara on the cheek. He responded by turning bright red as he stuttered out something unintelligible and pressed a little tan teddy bear into her hands.

He watched the little pink-haired girl run to her parents with a thousand-watt smile on her face, and something in the Shukaku shifted slightly.

'_**In your heart… How sweet.'**_ The grainy voice of the Ichibi whispered sarcastically through the little redhead's mind, making Gaara's eyes sharpen and narrow slightly. He would ignore the voice for as long as possible. He wanted to savor the few seconds he had left with Sakura still in sight.

The little pink-haired girl turned and waved one final time, hugging the bear close to her as she mouthed 'don't change.'

'_**She is delusional. You should have killed her when you first saw her, boy. You are weak,'**_ the Shukaku hissed darkly, disturbing the sand around Gaara and earning a sharp glance from his Uncle. The five year old growled, watching the speck of pink disappear on the horizon before he turned away abruptly and clutched a hand in his crimson hair.

"Gaara? Are you alright?" Yashamaru asked warily, sliding his feet slightly in case he had to defend against the boy. The small redhead muttered something under his breath and straightened suddenly, glaring at the sunset with hatred.

"I'm fine, Yashamaru," Gaara whispered, watching the sun sink lower.

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That night, he made the promise to never love again. With the death of his uncle and everything he held dear to him gone, the Shukaku allowed the child to carve the kanji for love into his forehead with his sand. Pink hair whispered through his mind as he fingered the blood-soaked red ribbon around his neck.

"Will you also abandon me?" Gaara whispered, gazing lifelessly at what remained of his uncle. His head throbbed, but he refused to give in to the Shukaku's demand for sleep.

"Sakura..."

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...This kinda came from nowhere. In all honesty, I typed this probably about 2 years ago. Just thought I'd put it up and see what kind of response it would get. I'm not really looking for anything but constructive criticism, however, I will admit my writing style has changed slightly as I've gotten older... Meh, we'll see... Hope you enjoyed this!


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